Fabricio Guerreiro got help from Team Alpha Male for Bellator 99 tourney fight

Maybe it was the shock to the system of a major road trip that contributed to the only loss of Fabricio Guerreiro‘s career that he doesn’t consider a fluke.

And if that was indeed the case, he believes he’s getting past that now with a little more North American acclimatization – and Duane Ludwig.

Guerreiro (17-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) takes on Desmond Green (8-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in the opening round of Bellator’s Season 9 featherweight tournament, which opens tonight at Bellator 99. Spending some time at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, Guerreiro believes, is helping him avoid the kind of thing that happened to him in February when he was submitted by Magomedrasul Khasbulaev at Bellator 88.

That was his first loss since a 48-second TKO setback in June 2011 that he believes was in part thanks to an overzealous stoppage by the referee.

“It was my first time fighting outside Brazil,” Guerreiro told MMAjunkie.com about his loss to Khasbulaev. “I think my lack of experience contributed to the defeat. Plus, the temperature there was slightly above freezing and I couldn’t handle that easily, since I come from a hot climate. But there’s no sense in blaming things. We learn to correct our mistakes after every fight.”

Khasbulaev went on to win Bellator’s Season 8 featherweight tournament. After submitting Guerreiro, Khasbulaev stopped Marlon Sandro, then outpointed Mike Richman to get a shot at the featherweight title. That will come after champion Pat Curran defends his belt against Daniel Straus in November.

But Guerreiro at least can take comfort in his loss coming to a top-shelf opponent.

“I am confident I could have fought better, but he ended up winning the tournament, so he has proven he is a top-level fighter,” Guerreiro said. “I didn’t lose to a nobody. I hope we cross paths again so I can erase this stain. I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t deal well with defeat. After losing to ‘Frodo’, I actually had a fight in my home state and won by KO, even though it doesn’t show on my record yet. That defeat did not discourage me. Just the opposite. It motivated me to win again.”

And for Bellator 99, which takes place at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., with a main card on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com, Guerreiro came to the States early and used his connection with Fabio Prado at Team Alpha Male to get some work in – and some more of that motivation to get his first Bellator win and move on in the featherweight tournament.

“I think it’s top level,” Guerreiro said of Alpha Male. “I had never had striking classes and I have much to learn here. Duane Ludwig is helping everyone here. I feel every time I see them, I’ll get better and better.”

Just like his opponent, Green, Guerreiro is using his family as motivation.

And he’ll be hoping that his motivation exceeds Green’s.

“I’m not married on paper but I’ll be together with my wife eight years this December,” he said. “My son is 6 years old. I am 23. Being a parent is the most important thing in my life. My son loves to watch me fight. He doesn’t miss any of my fights. He already trains judo, and he loves telling his friends that his father is a fighter. Of course, he was sad when I lost, but I try to teach him that life has it ups and downs, and what’s important is to keep moving forward.”

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